DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41589#0041
structure of 13th century Cistercian basilicas. The close relationships between work-
shops working for Cistercians and mendicants in the 13th century, or even their identity
in some cases, as well as other arguments, seem to confirm this concept.
Together with the choir the eastern wing of the conventual complex was built in
Zawichost.
In the years after 1250 there appeared part by part the spacious and complex
structure of the Franciscan custodial church and monastery in Cracow6. Of its
first church building there remains only its central part, built on the plan of a Greek
cross with a sacristy closed with an apse in the corner (both covered with cross-rib
vaultings). The part on the Greek cross plan gives evidence of a significant identity of
dimensions and analogy in the building of the architectonic form with the few years
younger Cistercian church in Rudy Wielkie in Silesia. We must note, however, the
existence of certain differences in detail. The meanning of the croos-form of Franciscan
church in Cracow has been explained in different ways. There is no uniformity of
opinion on the question of the situation and reconstruction of the tower, mentioned in
mediaeval sources and destroyed in 1465. The modest sacristy is a simple work of
a local workshop (from Mogila ?). Simultaneously with the central part of the church
the remote western wing of the monastery was in construction. We can observe the
remains of the primitive structure in the wall parallel with the present western front of
the church.
To all this a two-nave asymetric hall covered with a roof was added a few years later
(before 1276, the 13/14th c.). This recently discovered and discussed part of the church
was probably the result of a separate project, executed after the primitive one had been
renounced. The builders endavoured to place a new, spacious body between the eastern
part and the western wing of the monastery. This is perhaps the reason for some
irregularities in the arrangement of the windows.
In the period 1270—1280 important work was carried out in the church of St.
Stanislas in Nowy Korczyn7. The church building was planned as a composition with
a rectangular unvaulted nave and rectangular, cross-rib vaulted, three-bay long choir. It
was therefore a copy (in the mediaeval sense of the word) of the recently completed
sanctuary in Zawichost. The church was built by a Silesian workshop, different from the
one in Zawichost. It originated from a good milieu (Wroclaw Cathedral ?), used
different detail, shape of bays (rectangular), and used more consciously the advantages
of the Gothic construction. The huge presbyterium was completed before 1280, while
the nave was raised to a height of 2—4,5 m.
Toward the end of the 13th century the construction of a building for Poor Clares
took place also in Grodzisko by Skala. The remains of the mediaeval building material
(brick), used again in the 17th and 18th centuries, and obscure passeges in ancient texts
do not allow us to suggest any interpretation.
The 13th century Franciscan architecture in Lesser Poland, rising above all under
the patronage of the prince Boleslas the Shy, his wife Kunegunda from the Arpad
family, and sister Salomea (the dowager queen, former wife of Koloman IV), belongs to
a conservative and somewhat backward modus of the, probably, first Post-Romanesque
style. This style operates with heavy proportions, and still uses the Romanesque in its
genetic, additive way of building the shape and space of churches. The detail, late
Romanesque (as in the Zawichost or Cracow — keystones in the sacristy) coexists with
the early Gothic (Cracow — window traceries, Nowy Korczyn). The general rule is the
use of brick and stone in the detail and in parts of special structural importance. The
understanding of the qualities of Gothic construction is almost nil (except in Nowy
Korczyn).
We must note the differentiation of the presbytery and nave of the church. The choir
is usually distinquished by sculpted decoration and is separated from the nave by
a lectorium (choir screen). The building programmes of Minorite churches in Lesser
39
shops working for Cistercians and mendicants in the 13th century, or even their identity
in some cases, as well as other arguments, seem to confirm this concept.
Together with the choir the eastern wing of the conventual complex was built in
Zawichost.
In the years after 1250 there appeared part by part the spacious and complex
structure of the Franciscan custodial church and monastery in Cracow6. Of its
first church building there remains only its central part, built on the plan of a Greek
cross with a sacristy closed with an apse in the corner (both covered with cross-rib
vaultings). The part on the Greek cross plan gives evidence of a significant identity of
dimensions and analogy in the building of the architectonic form with the few years
younger Cistercian church in Rudy Wielkie in Silesia. We must note, however, the
existence of certain differences in detail. The meanning of the croos-form of Franciscan
church in Cracow has been explained in different ways. There is no uniformity of
opinion on the question of the situation and reconstruction of the tower, mentioned in
mediaeval sources and destroyed in 1465. The modest sacristy is a simple work of
a local workshop (from Mogila ?). Simultaneously with the central part of the church
the remote western wing of the monastery was in construction. We can observe the
remains of the primitive structure in the wall parallel with the present western front of
the church.
To all this a two-nave asymetric hall covered with a roof was added a few years later
(before 1276, the 13/14th c.). This recently discovered and discussed part of the church
was probably the result of a separate project, executed after the primitive one had been
renounced. The builders endavoured to place a new, spacious body between the eastern
part and the western wing of the monastery. This is perhaps the reason for some
irregularities in the arrangement of the windows.
In the period 1270—1280 important work was carried out in the church of St.
Stanislas in Nowy Korczyn7. The church building was planned as a composition with
a rectangular unvaulted nave and rectangular, cross-rib vaulted, three-bay long choir. It
was therefore a copy (in the mediaeval sense of the word) of the recently completed
sanctuary in Zawichost. The church was built by a Silesian workshop, different from the
one in Zawichost. It originated from a good milieu (Wroclaw Cathedral ?), used
different detail, shape of bays (rectangular), and used more consciously the advantages
of the Gothic construction. The huge presbyterium was completed before 1280, while
the nave was raised to a height of 2—4,5 m.
Toward the end of the 13th century the construction of a building for Poor Clares
took place also in Grodzisko by Skala. The remains of the mediaeval building material
(brick), used again in the 17th and 18th centuries, and obscure passeges in ancient texts
do not allow us to suggest any interpretation.
The 13th century Franciscan architecture in Lesser Poland, rising above all under
the patronage of the prince Boleslas the Shy, his wife Kunegunda from the Arpad
family, and sister Salomea (the dowager queen, former wife of Koloman IV), belongs to
a conservative and somewhat backward modus of the, probably, first Post-Romanesque
style. This style operates with heavy proportions, and still uses the Romanesque in its
genetic, additive way of building the shape and space of churches. The detail, late
Romanesque (as in the Zawichost or Cracow — keystones in the sacristy) coexists with
the early Gothic (Cracow — window traceries, Nowy Korczyn). The general rule is the
use of brick and stone in the detail and in parts of special structural importance. The
understanding of the qualities of Gothic construction is almost nil (except in Nowy
Korczyn).
We must note the differentiation of the presbytery and nave of the church. The choir
is usually distinquished by sculpted decoration and is separated from the nave by
a lectorium (choir screen). The building programmes of Minorite churches in Lesser
39